■I^TA  D  D  Ji  Ji  8 15 


^ 


f' 


IS      -pXCELLENCY 


I L  LI  AM  B.  Washburn. 


TO     THE     TWO     BRAJSrCHES 


LEGISLATURE  i)V  MASSACHUSETTS, 


Janunrv  2.  1813. 


BOSTOy : 

WRIGHT    &    POTTER,     STATE    PRINTERS, 

19  PROvrsCE  Street. 

1  8  7  3- 


UCSB  librarv 

SENATE No.  1. 

ADDRESS 

OP 

pis  €'Htlhnt^ 

WILLIAM  B.  WASHBUEN, 

TO  THE  TWO  BRANCHES 

OF  THE 

LEGISLATURE  OF  IMASSACHUSETTS, 
Jaxuaby  2,  1873. 


BOSTON: 

WRIGHT  &  POTTER,   STATE   PRINTERS, 

19  Provixcb  Street. 

1873. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/addressbfliisexceOOwasliiala 


ADDRESS. 


Gentlemen  of  the  Senate 

and  of  the  House  of  Representatives : 

In  accordance  with  the  will  of  the  people,  we 
have  assembled  here  to  assume  the  duties  of  the 
executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Commonwealth  for  the  cuiTcnt  year. 
As  we  stand  upon  the  threshold  of  this  new  epoch, 
with  gratitude  in  our  hearts  for  the  abundant 
mercies  of  the  past,  let  us  look  to  Him,  the  source 
of  all  power,  for  wisdom  and  courage  to  meet  the 
responsibilities  of  the  future,  and  dedicate  our- 
selves in  all  sincerity  to  resolute  and  vigilant 
faithfulness  in  the  tasks  set  for  our  perfonnance. 

SUMMARY   OF  FIXAKCE. 

"Wliile  disaster  has  seriously,  though  temporarily, 
crippled  and  embarrassed  many  of  the  mdustrial 
and  commercial  interests  of  the   Commonwealth, 


4  GOVERNOE'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

her  public  finances  exhibit  gratifying  evidence  of 
thrift  and  security.  Under  the  wise  and  provident 
pohcy  of  the  State, — creating  ample  sinking  funds 
for  the  liquidation  of  every  maturing  instalment 
of  the  public  debt, — more  than  three  millions  of 
the  funded  liabilities  have  been  extinguished  dur- 
ing the  past  year,  without  recourse  to  ordinary 
revenue,  taxation  or  temporary  loans.  The  amount 
thus  retired  included  upwards  of  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  the  Massachusetts  5-20  "War  Fund 
Loan  not  absolutely  maturing  till  1886,  but  which 
the  surplus  acciunulation  of  the  -  sinking  fund 
established  for  its  payment  rendered  it  advisable 
to  anticipate.  With  an  addition  of  more  than  a 
million  to  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Railroad  and 
Hoosac  Tunnel  Loan,  by  a  further  issue  of  scrip 
on  that  account,  there  still  remains  a  net  reduction 
of  the  funded  debt  of  the  Commonwealth  amount- 
ing to  nearly  two  millions  of  dollars.  The 
appended  statement  exhibits  the  transactions  of 
the  year  in  this  connection : — 

Funded  debt,  January  1, 1872,       .  $29,629,364  00 

Amounts    liquidated     during    the 
year : — 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1. 

Massachusetts  War 

Fund  loan,  .         .  |2,551,500  00 

Union  Fund  loan, 
1861,   .        .        .       363,700  00 

State  Almshouse 
loan,    .         .         .        100,000  00 

Loan  of  1861  (fund- 
ing debt),    .         .       100,000  00 


$3,115,200  00 


Balance  remaining  .         .         .  |26,514,164  00 

Added  during  the  year  on  account 
of  the  Troy  and  Greenfield  Rail- 
road and  Hoosac  Tunnel  loan,    .       1,178,540  00 


Total, 127,692,704  00 

With  these  changes  the  existing 
debt,  all  of  which  is  funded, 
may  be  thus  classified : — 

Railroad  loans,  $13,303,016  00 

War  loans,     .  .  13,519,688  00 

Ordinary  loans,  .        870,000  00 

Funded  debt,  .      $27,692,704  00 


6  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

The  only  unfunded  liabilities  remaining  con- 
sist of  small  sums,  for  the  payment  of  which  the 
treasury  is  amply  provided. 

"With  the  extinguishment  in  1872  of  the  last  in- 
stalment of  the  loan  of  1861  for  funding  the  pub- 
lic debt,  there  remain  now  no  funded  liabilities  for 
the  payment  of  which  the  State  has  not  provided  a 
sinking  fund ;  and  any  deficit  likely  to  occur  in  one 
or  two  of  these  funds  can  be  easily  supplied,  either 
by  transfer  of  surplus  acciunulations,  or  from  other 
available  resources. 

During  the  present  year  $425,000  more  of  the 
funded  debt  will  reach  maturity,  viz. :  of  the  Union 
Fund  Loan,  $300,000;  State  House  Enlargement 
Loan,  $65,000;  and  Almshouse  Loan,  $60,000,— 
all  of  which  will  be  paid  from  their  several  sinking 
funds. 

The  Finances  of  1873. 

Accepting  the  results  of  the  past 
year  as  a  basis  of  judgment  for 
the  present,  the  ordinary  reve- 
nues of  the  State  may  be  esti- 
mated at $2,300,000  00 

Adding  to  this  sum  the  unexpend- 
ed cash  on  the  same  account,  will 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  7 

put  the  treasury   in  possession 
of  something  like       .         .         .    $2,900,000  00 
The  ordinaiy  expenses  of  the  year, 
estimated  upon  present  informa- 
tion, can  scarcely  be  less  than    .    $4,420,000  00 

"With  the  material  reduction  of  ordinary  revenues 
under  the  repealing  legislation  of  1872,  the  amount 
necessary  to  be  raised  by  a  state  tax  may  not  be 
less  than  two  millions  of  dollars,  exclusive  of  any 
provision  for  temporary  emergencies  or  special 
grants  by  the  present  legislature. 

THE  tu:n2?:el  ajjd  its  coN^ra:cTio:N^s. 

The  opening  of  the  Hoosac  Tunnel  from  the 
eastern  portal  to  the  central  shaft,  which  event,  as 
you  are  already  aware,  took  place  on  the  twelfth 
ultimo,  with  scarcely  an  appreciable  difference  in 
the  AVorMng  lines  from  the  two  faces,  must  have 
demonstrated  the  entire  practicability  of  this  great 
enterprise  to  the  most  sceptical  mind. 

The  unprecedented  flow  of  water  from  the  head- 
ing west  of  the  central  shaft,  obhged  the  contrac- 
tors to  discontinue  work  at  that  point  some  six 
months  ago.  The  completion  of  the  connection 
eastward  affords  natural  drainage,  and  they  will 


8  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

soon  be  relieved  from  delay  or  expense  on  that 
account.  In  a  few  months  the  tunnel  will  be  fin- 
ished to  the  shaft  from  the  eastern  portal,  and 
thenceforward  the  work  will  be  confined  to  two 
faces.  Between  the  shaft  and  the  western  portal 
there  now  remains  about  3,125  feet  of  rock  to  pen- 
etrate, and  through  this  the  contractors,  who  have 
prosecuted  their  labors  during  the  season  with 
commendable  diligence,  expect  to  have  an  opening 
some  time  before  the  end  of  the  present  year.  In 
order  to  present  the  tunnel  in  a  completed  state 
at  the  expiration  of  the  contract,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  push  forward  every  branch  of  the  work 
with  the  utmost  energy. 

Under  chapter  47,  Resolves  of  1872,  there  has 
been  advanced  to  the  Messrs.  Shanly  since  the 
adjoui-nment  of  the  last  legislature,  the  sum  of 
$100,000  from  the  reserve  fund,  to  secure  the  pay- 
ment of  which  a  mortgage  of  their  tools  and  ma- 
chinery was  taken.  There  has  also,  under  the 
second  clause  of  said  Resolve,  been  issued  to  them 
certificates  of  indebtedness  to  the  amount  of  $200,- 
000,  payable  without  interest  on  the  completion 
and  acceptance  of  the  tunnel. 

The  Commonwealth  should  immediately  prepare 
itself  to  reap  every  legitimate  benefit  to  which  it 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  9 

will  be  entitled  upon  the  consummation  of  this 
vast  undertaking.  By  means  of  the  tunnel  our 
chief  city  may  not  only  be  brought  into  shorter 
and  more  direct  communication  with  the  great 
lakes  of  the  West,  but  through  this  channel  Chica- 
go will  be  brought  nearer  to  the  tide-water  of  our 
own  State  than  it  now  is  to  ]^ew  York  city.  In 
this  view  of  the  matter,  the  interests  at  stake  are 
of  such  consequence  that  they  cannot  properly  be 
remitted  to  a  careless  or  secondary  consideration. 

While  the  tunnel  proper  has  been  well  con- 
structed, the  road  thereto  from  Greenfield,  like  all 
others  of  which  the  engineer  and  contractor  are 
one  and  the  same  person,  is  wholly  unfit  for  any 
considerable  traffic.  Built  for  a  temporary  pur- 
pose, and  in  the  cheapest  possible  manner,  the  ne- 
cessities of  the  immediate  future  require  an  im- 
provement of  the  grade  at  many  points,  a  straight- 
ening of  the  location  at  others,  a  protection  of  the 
embankments,  an  enlargement  and  a  strengthening 
of  the  bridges  and  culverts,  and  a  general  renewal 
of  the  road-bed  and  superstructure.  Furthermore, 
a  considerable  expenditure  must  soon  be  made 
upon  the  Fitchburg  and  the  Vermont  and  Massa- 
chusetts roads  if  we  would  avail  ourselves  of  the 
opportunities  to  be  afforded  by  the  tunnel.     In  the 


10  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

location  of  the  Yermont  and  Massachusetts  chang- 
es are  required  to  shorten  the  distance,  improve 
the  grade,  and  lessen  the  niunber  of  bridges,  while 
the  road-bed  and  superstructure  must  be  in  great 
part  renewed,  and  a  double  track  laid  for  the 
whole  or  a  portion  of  its  length.  Without  com- 
menting on  the  general  management  of  the  Fitch- 
burg  road,  it  must  be  said  that  its  equipment  is 
not  equal  to  the  necessities  of  a  greatly  increased 
business;  its  facilities  need  to  be  multiplied  at 
least  fourfold,  by  the  construction  of  several  first- 
class  grain  elevators,  and  the  adoption  of  various 
approved  appliances  for  receiving  and  handling 
freight. 

"What  shall  be  done  to  secure  the  requisite  im- 
provements on  these  several  roads,  so  that  the 
Commonwealth  may  obtain  the  business  naturally 
coming  to  the  seaboard  by  way  of  the  tunnel,  is 
one  of  the  most  important  questions  now  waiting 
legislative  answer.  Properly  managed,  this  line 
from  Boston  to  the  State's  western  frontier  will  be 
one  of  the  best  investments  ever  made.  I  am  fully 
persuaded  it  cannot  be  operated  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  public  while  in  the  hands  of  several  separate 
organizations.  To  secure  efficiency  of  action  and 
direct  responsibility,   the   entire    route    must    be 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  11 

brought  under  the  immediate  control  of  one  body, 
and  be  operated  by  one  head.  And  in  my  judg- 
ment the  necessary  improvements  are  more  Hkely 
to  be  made  in  a  proper  manner  by  one  authority 
working  for  the  general  interest,  than  by  several 
working  each  for  its  own  specific  interest.  I  am 
in  favor,  therefore,  of  the  early  consolidation  of 
these  roads  so  that  they  may  be  operated  and  man- 
aged as  a  single  line. 

I  very  well  know  that  serious  objections  to  such 
a  combination  exist  in  many  minds.  There  is  a 
fear  that  the  railway  interest,  already  so  powerful 
that  it  frequently  exercises  an  injurious  influence 
upon  legislation,  will  be  rendered  even  more  dan- 
gerous by  such  a  union.  But  the  practical  ques- 
tion in  this  exigency  is  simply  whether  one  corpo- 
ration will  be  more  or  less  dangerous  to  the  public 
welfare  than  three  or  four.  It  seems  to  me  that 
there  will  be  greater  difficulty  in  contending  with 
several  organizations,  each  proud  of  its  indepen- 
dence, but  ready  to  shirk  its  responsibility,  and 
swift  to  combine  with  the  others  to  carry  any 
desired  measure,  than  with  one  controlled  by  a 
single  head  which  can  be  made  accountable  to  the 
people  and  the  legislature  for  its  acts.  And  no 
one  at  this  day  doubts  that  an  unbroken  line  m 


12  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

more  efficiently  managed  by  one  corporation  than 
by  several.  Looking  at  the  problem  from  every 
point  of  view,  and  carefully  weighing  all  the  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages  of  either  solution, 
I  am  decided  in  the  conviction  that  the  tunnel 
route  should  be  consohdated  at  the  earliest  practi- 
cable day. 

In  providing  for  this  consolidation,  as  in  char- 
tering any  new  fine,  the  Commonwealth  does  not 
abdicate  its  supreme  authority  in  the  premises. 
The  corporation  will  be  but  the  servant  of  the 
State,  entrusted  with  certain  powers  to  be  used  for 
the  public  good.  If  at  any  time  it  becomes  false 
to  its  trust,  and  uses  those  powers  for  private  and 
selfish  ends  to  the  detriment  of  the  general  wel- 
fare, it  will  be  the  duty  of  the  State  to  resume  its 
own. 

I  trust  yom*  honorable  bodies  may  be  able  to 
frame  an  equitable  Act  of  Consolidation  which  will 
be  accepted  by  the  roads  interested  in  good  faith. 
Should  either  of  them  refuse  to  accept  the  legisla- 
tive terms  proposed  after  careful  consideration  of 
the  whole  issue,  much  as  I  should  regret  the  ne- 
cessity for  such  a  procedure,  the  interests  of  the 
State  are  so  manifold  and  imperative  that  I  see 
nothing  for  her  to  do  but  take  the  matter  into  her 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  13 

own  hands, — the  end  of  paramount  importance  be- 
ing to  put  the  entire  hne  in  readiness  as  soon  as 
possible  for  the  great  work  coming  to  it  with  the 
completion  of  the  timnel. 

As  the  funds  for  building  the  tunnel  are  drawn 
from  the  public  treasury,  we  must  take  care 
that  the  line  using  it  does  not  become  a  monopoly. 
Provision  should  be  made  in  the  act  of  con- 
solidation for  harmonious  relations  with  connect- 
ing and  neighboring  hues.  Every  other  road 
in  the  State  so  desiring  to  do  should  be  allowed  to 
intersect  the  through  line  and  receive  and  dis- 
charge freight  and  passengers  on  a  fair  and  an 
equitable  basis,  that  it  in  turn  may  be  enabled  to 
deliver  to  the  dwellers  along  its  route  a  portion  of 
the  benefits  of  this  new  avenue  for  commerce  and 
transportation.  "With  the  proposed  consolidation 
effected,  and  these  distributing  agencies  made  pos- 
sible, I  doubt  not  we  shall  speedily  find  the  tunnel 
route  a  favorite  with  shippers  and  travellers,  and 
a  great  source  of  revenue  and  advantage  to  our 
people. 

THE   GEXERAL    EAILROAD   LAW. 

So  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  general  railroad  Act 
passed  last  spring  has  fully  realized  the  hopes  of 


14  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

its  friends.  "While  on  the  one  hand  no  company 
has  organized  under  it,  on  the  other  hand  it  has 
not  prevented  the  building  of  any  road  deemed 
necessary  by  the  community.  It  retards  no  legiti- 
mate entei-prise,  has  been  of  salutary  influence 
upon  existing  roads,  and  works  injury  to  no  sec- 
tion of  the  Commonwealth.  It  has  received  the 
approval  of  the  pubhc,  is  recognized  as  an  impor- 
tant step  in  the  right  direction,  and  responds  to 
the  growing  conviction  among  the  people  that 
legislation,  as  far  as  practicable,  should  seek  the 
benefit  of  the  many  rather  than  of  the  few. 

Doubtless  special  Acts  will  be  sought  at  your 
hands  to  secure  special  advantages;  but  these 
must  be  denied  if  the  vitality  of  the  general  Act  is 
to  be  maintained.  Should  privileges  or  restric- 
tions not  embraced  in  that  law  be  requested,  you 
may  wisely  consider  whether  the  statute  is  not 
open  to  amendment  without  detriment  to  its  gen- 
eral application. 

Your  predecessors,  impressed  with  the  danger 
of  railway  crossings  at  grade,  and  convinced  that 
such  crossings  might  mostly  be  avoided  with  little 
additional  expense,  declared  against  them  in  the 
general  law.  This  provision,  though  having  a 
commendable  end  in  view,  seems  to  me  of  doubtful 


1873.]  SENATE— Xo.  1.  15 

wisdom.  Under  our  broad  system  of  railroad  net- 
work, instances  will  occur  where  it  is  all  but 
impossible  to  avoid  such  crossings,  and  where 
there  would  be  little  danger  therefrom.  It  does 
not  appear  to  be  a  legislative  function  to  determine 
when  such  an  exigency  has  arisen.  The  question 
is  simply  one  of  fact,  to  be  settled  by  personal 
inspection,  eminently  requiring  personal  responsi- 
bility ;  and,  in  my  opinion,  the  determination  of  the 
issue  should  be  entrusted  to  a  tribunal  that  can 
pass  upon  the  exigency  at  any  time.  I  therefore 
suggest  the  propriety  of  an  amendment,  authoriz- 
ing the  railroad  commissioners  to  permit  such 
crossings  when  in  their  judgment  the  public  inter- 
est so  requires. 

THE   LABOR  BUREAU. 

Three  annual  reports  by  the  Bureau  of  Labor 
Statistics  have  been  laid  before  the  public,  and  the 
fourth  will  be  submitted  to  you  in  due  time. 
Those  who  were  most  instrumental  in  the  creation 
of  this  bureau  generally  admit  that  it  has  not  ful- 
filled their  expectations.  Nearly  every  branch  of 
the  labor  movement  has  openly  and  decidedly 
expressed  dissatisfaction  with  its  methods  and  its 
results,  and  I  am  not  aware  that  capitalists  and 


16  GOVEENOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

employers  have  expressed  any  particular  gratifica- 
tion therewith.  "What  course  shall  be  pursued 
in  reference  to  this  department,  is  a  question  that 
challenges  your  careful  and  thoughtful  delibera- 
tion. 

AYliile  it  may  be  confessed  that  the  hivestiga- 
tions  of  the  bureau  have  not  been  so  thorough  and 
complete  as  to  commend  its  conclusions  to  univer- 
sal assent,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  its  reports 
contain  our  only  official  statements  on  the  subjects 
of  which  they  treat,  and  have  been  printed  and 
circulated  by  pubUc  authority.  They  are  referred 
to  now,  and  will  be  referred  to  hereafter,  by  those 
seeking  information  as  to  the  social  condition  of 
Massachusetts.  They  have  been  cited,  and  will 
again  be  cited,  in  the  debates  of  Congress  upon 
measures  proposed  for  the  protection  and  enlarge- 
ment of  our  industries,  as  showing  how  the  benefits 
of  such  protection  are  distributed.  If  they  give 
a  false  or  partial  picture  of  the  relations  of  labor 
to  capital  in  our  Commonwealth,  the  remedy  for 
complaint  on  this  head  must  be  sought,  not  in  dis- 
continuing the  investigation  upon  which  we  have 
entered,  but  in  lifting  it  to  a  higher  and  broader 
level,  making  it  more  thorough,  and  conducting  it 
with  larger  aims. 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  17 

Whether  a  laborer  can  accomplish  as  much  in 
one  hour  as  he  can  in  two,  whether  the  machinery 
in  a  well-managed  factory  can  timi  out  as  many 
yards  of  cloth  in  eight  hours  as  in  ten — these 
problems  the  Massachusetts  Yankee  may  safely 
be  left  to  solve  for  himself  without  official  aid  or 
prompting.  But  we  ought  approximately  to  know, 
for  instance,  how  many  grown  persons  there  are  in 
the  State,  not  prevented  from  labor  by  vice,  indo- 
lence or  physical  infinnity,  who  cannot  procure 
comfortable  homes  for  themselves  and  their  depen- 
dents, fair  education  for  their  children,  adequate 
provision  for  sickness  and  old  age,  and  sufficient 
leisure  for  the  comprehension  and  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  citizenship.  The  incapacity  to  procure 
this  is  poverty.  We  ought  to  know  whether  the 
proportion  of  such  persons  is  increasing  or  dimin- 
ishing,— whether  our  legislation  hastens  or  can  be 
made  to  hasten  the  decrease  or  comiteract  the 
increase.  If  there  is  carried  on  in  the  State  any 
business  so  unremunerative  that  it  will  not  permit 
the  employers  to  pay  those  employed  such  wages 
as  are  necessary  to  keep  them  from  poverty,  how- 
ever desirable  that  business  may  be,  it  ought  to 
cease.  And  surely  we  ought  to  know,  if  it  be  pos- 
sible to  ascertain,  whether  there  are  really  among 


18  GOVERNOE'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

us  employers  who  are  laying  up  great  riches  for 
themselves  by  keeping  their  employes  in  a  con- 
dition of  impoverished  dependence. 

In  order  to  secure  statistical  mformation  on 
these  and  other  related  issues,  different  instrumen- 
talities from  those  now  in  use  will  be  required.  A 
schedule  should  be  carefully  prepared  by  the  legis- 
lature, with  the  aid  of  competent  assistance,  indi- 
cating the  facts  desired  from  every  city  and  town 
in  the  Commonwealth.  In  the  small  towns  these 
facts  might  be  gathered  by  the  assessors;  in  the 
larger  towns  under  the  direction  and  suj)erinten- 
dence  of  the  selectmen ;  and  in  the  cities,  by  wards, 
through  appointees  of  the  mayor  and  aldermen. 
Special  returns  should  also  be  required  from  all  the 
savings  banks  and  such  other  institutions  as  can 
throw  light  on  the  general  inquiry.  Statistics  from 
a  few  scattered  points  or  isolated  establishments 
will  not  suffice;  they  must  be  comprehensive,  or 
the  conclusions  founded  on  them  will  be  valueless 
and  misleading. 

There  may  be  objections  to  the  plan  thus  sug- 
gested for  solving  the  difficulty  in  which  we  now 
find  ourselves.  If  your  honorable  bodies  will  pre- 
sent a  better  one  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  join  you 
in  its  adoption.     But  in  my  judgment,  neither  the 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  19 

well-being  of  our  people  nor  the  good  name  of  our 
State  will  permit  us  to  rest  in  non-action.  The 
relations  of  capital  and  labor,  of  employer  and 
employes, — these  are  issues  that  will  not  down  at 
any  man's  bidding.  The  questions  they  present  are 
among  the  gravest  and  most  vital  of  the  time ;  they 
cannot  be  thrust  aside ;  they  will  be  heard ;  they 
must  be  discussed  j  they  justly  insist  upon  a  prac- 
tical answer. 

THE    STATE   PRISON. 

By  a  Resolve  of  the  last  General  Court  the 
Inspectors  of  the  State  Prison  were  required  to 
submit  to  you  a  special  report  concerning  that 
institution — embodying  facts,  figures  and  opinions 
as  to  the  practicability  of  enlarging  and  improving 
the  buildings  now  occupied,  and  as  to  the  policy 
of  selling  the  property  in  Charlestown  and  put- 
ting up  a  new  prison  at  another  point.  In  obey- 
ing this  order  of  the  legislature  the  inspectors 
have  incurred  a  slight  necessary  expense,  for  the 
payment  of  which  I  cannot  doubt  you  will  cheer- 
fully make  provision.  Their  report  is  to  be  sub- 
mitted at  an  early  date.  The  question  which  it 
will  present  for  your  consideration  is  one  of  great 
importance,   and  I  ask  you  to  give  to   its   deter- 


20  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

mination  your  best  judgment  and  calmest  fore- 
thought. 

Society  rightfully  demands  the  restraint  and 
correction  of  criminals.  Its  welfare  is  impeiilled 
by  attempts  to  shield  the  violators  of  law  from 
merited  doom.  The  certainty  of  punishment  is 
one  of  the  guarantees  of  safety.  But  we  by  no 
means  discharge  our  full  duty  when  we  enact  laws 
for  the  punishment  of  offenders  and  provide  a 
place  for  their  confinement.  Even  in  their  worst 
state  they  are  men  with  necessities  and  possibili- 
ties for  which  we  must  have  regard.  We  are  our- 
selves guilty  of  inhumanity  if  we  wilfully  neglect 
what  is  requisite  to  their  health  while  restrained  of 
freedom.  And  we  ought  always  to  keep  their 
reformation  before  our  minds  as  an  object  of 
hope  and  purpose.  As  a  means  to  the  first  of 
these  ends,  we  must  have  light,  ventilation,  good 
drainage,  and  other  conditions  on  which  physical 
vigor  depends.  As  an  essential  to  success  in 
reformatory  endeavor,  we  must,  in  my  judgment, 
have  a  classification  of  prisoners  and  a  graded 
system  of  government. 

Whether  any  reasonable  expenditure  on  the 
existing  State  Prison  will  make  it  such  an  institu- 
tion as  becomes  this  Commonwealth,  is  the  ques- 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  21 

tion  first  to  be  considered.  The  inspectors,  after 
careful  examination,  are  of  the  opinion  that  an 
aj^propriation  of  not  less  than  $150,000  will  be 
required  for  necessary  changes  and  repairs.  Con- 
siderable improvements  of  one  kind  or  another 
might  undoubtedly  be  made  by  a  judicious  use  of 
this  amount.  But  the  plan  of  the  establishment 
is  so  radically  at  fault,  that  its  culinary  affairs 
must  always  be  carried  on  at  a  great  disadvantage. 
The  ventilation  of  the  building  is  very  imperfect, 
and  its  deficiencies  in  this  regard  can  be  no  more 
than  partially  remedied.  ^Moreover,  the  drainage 
of  the  site  is  wholly  inadequate,  and  the  tide-water 
rises  to  a  point  so  nearly  on  a  level  with  the  floors 
of  the  building,  that  it  is  impossible  to  secure  the 
necessary  outflow.  There  is  an  alarming  preva- 
lence of  pulmonary  disease  in  the  institution,  and 
the  number  of  fatal  cases  of  iUness  is  much  greater 
than  formerly.  And  the  gravest  objection  of  all 
that  may  be  urged  against  this  building  is,  that  no 
proper  classification  of  prisoners  can  be  made  with- 
in its  walls.  The  warden  performs  his  difficult 
duties  with  vigor  and  discretion,  but  the  situation 
is  such  that  he  can  do  only  a  small  part  of  what 
it  is  desired  to  accomplish. 

The  inspectors  fix  the  value  of  the  present  prison 


22  GOYERXOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

property  at  about  $800,000.  They  will  submit  a 
plan,  in  general  outline,  for  a  new  prison,  with  the 
figures  of  an  architect  as  to  its  probable  cost. 
From  these  data,  with  an  allowance  for  land,  de- 
pending on  quantity  and  location,  a  fair  estimate 
can  be  formed  of  the  necessary  expense  that  will 
ensue  upon  a  determination  to  abandon  what  we 
now  have  and  establish  the  prison  elsewhere. 
Figures,  however,  constitute  but  one  of  the  ele- 
ments in  the  problem  to  be  solved,  and  the  fact 
that  it  will  cost  somewhat  more  to  build  on  another 
site  than  to  enlarge  and  repair  on  the  present, 
cannot  be  a  very  weighty  argument  against  the 
proposed  poHcy  if  the  faults  and  deficiencies  of  the 
existing  prison  are  without  remedy. 

"Wliile  of  the  opinion  that  the  site  now  occupied 
is  unfit  for  the  purpose,  I  still  deem  it  advisable 
that  our  State  Prison  should  be  located  in  the 
neighborhood  of  om^  chief  city,  from  which  a  ma- 
jority of  its  inmates  come.  It  should  be  placed  in 
a  healthy  situation,  upon  dry  soil,  where  perfect 
drainage  will  be  possible,  and,  for  the  convenience 
of  officials  and  those  humanely  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  prisoners,  on  the  line  of  a  good  double- 
track  railroad.  Connected  with  it  should  be 
twenty-five  or  thirty  acres  of  land,  affording  room 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  23 

for  large  and  well-ventilated  workshops,  and  fur- 
nishing out-door  occupation  for  prisoners  at  such 
times  as  health  requires  open-air  exercise.  Of 
course  the  buildings  should  be  of  the  most  ap- 
proved plan  in  every  respect,  with  capacity  equal 
to  probable  future  demands  as  well  as  those  of  the 
present  time. 

In  the  Charlestown  institution  proper  separation 
of  prisoners  cannot  possibly  be  made.  The  young 
man  of  a  single  crime,  for  which  the  charitable 
heart  may  perhaps  find  more  or  less  extenuation,  is 
necessarily  confined  in  immediate  proximity  to  the 
most  hardened  and  hopeless  criminals.  All  his 
surroundings  minister  to  evil  tendencies;  the  as- 
sociations of  the  corridor  and  workshop  are  con- 
taminating; the  very  atmosphere  he  breathes 
every  day  of  his  confinement  is  polluted.  Thus 
condemned  to  contact  and  fellowship  with  vice,  his 
mental  and  moral  condition  on  leaving  prison  is 
too  often  worse  than  when  he  entered.  Surely  the 
Commonwealth  cannot  permit  this  state  of  affairs 
to  exist  much  longer.  Enlightened  men  and  women 
on  every  side  are  satisfied  that  a  work  of  reform 
must  be  undertaken.  The  basis  of  reform  lies  in 
separation  and  classification.  Those  who  have  but 
just  entered  on  vicious  courses  must  not  be  com- 


24  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

pelled  to  constant  association  with  those  who  have 
become  veterans  in  crime. 

With  the  separation  that  might  be  secured  in 
planning  and  erecting  a  new  prison,  would  come 
the  opportunity  for  a  graded  system  of  manage- 
ment. In  the  highest  grade  might  perhaps  be 
placed  those  guilty  of  but  a  single  offence,  as  well 
as  those  whose  good  conduct  and  purpose  to 
reform  entitled  them  to  recognition.  In  the  lowest 
grade  would  necessarily  be  habitual  and  hardened 
offenders,  whose  evil  passions  must  be  kept  in 
check  by  stern  and  rigorous  punishment.  Be- 
tween these  two  should  be  at  least  one  interme- 
diate grade,  with  a  chance  for  promotion  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  and  a  certainty  of  degrada- 
tion for  cause  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest.  To 
those  in  the  upper  grade  should  be  accorded  com- 
forts and  privileges  uniformly  denied  to  those  in 
the  lower  grades,  so  that  an  incentive  to  good 
conduct  and  genuine  reformation  would  continu- 
ally exist.  Thus  the  majority  of  prisoners  might 
be  inspired  with  the  hope  of  bettering  their  condi- 
tion in  the  prison;  and  the  fact  that,  when  they  left 
it  by  expiration  of  sentence,  they  were  in  the  upper 
grade,  would  be  a  recommendation  to  the  com- 
munity;   while  the   fact  that  a  released   convict 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  25 

came  from  one  of  the  lower  grades,  would  lead  the 
public  to  be  on  its  guard. 

I  deeply  feel  that  some  plan  of  this  sort  ought 
to  be  adopted  in  the  prison.  I  have  sketched  it 
in  the  merest  outline,  but  it  would  not  be  difficult 
to  complete  the  detail  if  we  had  a  properly-built 
institution.  Whatever  has  been  said  of  our  prison 
system  in  the  past,  it  is  very  far  from  being  what 
our  present  stage  of  civilization  demands.  The 
plan  I  have  suggested  has  two  specific  ends  in 
view:  it  makes  punishment  a  direct  and  obvious 
sequence  of  conduct,  and  reformation  materially 
as  well  as  spu-itually  desirable.  I  veiy  well  com- 
prehend that  no  system  can  guarantee  the  complete 
restoration  of  criminals  to  integrity,  but  good  men 
and  women  would  have  special  encouragement  to 
help  such  as  had  tried  to  help  themselves.  From 
the  endeavor  of  the  Commonwealth  to  temper 
justice  with  mercy  in  its  dealings  with  offenders 
sincerely  penitent,  I  trust  would  spring  a  new 
purpose  among  our  people  generally,  and  thus 
many  of  those  who  have  entered  criminal  ways 
might  be  saved  to  honor  and  usefulness. 


26  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

STATE   CHARITIES. 

Under  authority  given  the  Executive  by  chapter 
68,  Acts  of  1872,  the  IS'autical  School  has  been  dis- 
continued. Such  of  the  boys  on  the  school  ship  as 
the  trustees  thought  it  inexpedient  to  release  on 
probation,  were  from  time  to  time,  as  arrangements 
for  their  reception  could  be  made,  transferred  to 
the  Reform  School  at  Westborough,  and  early  in 
July  the  vessel  was  sold  at  public  auction.  The 
sale  of  the  property  netted  $12,753.73,  which  sum 
was  paid  into  the  state  treasury. 

The  State  Almshouses  at  Monson  and  Bridge- 
water  were  abolished  by  chapter  45,  Acts  of  1872. 
The  transfer  of  paupers  to  Tewksbury  provided 
for  in  that  act  has  taken  place,  though  under  the 
discretionary  authority  granted  the  Board  of  State 
Charities,  a  few  (less  than  fifty)  yet  remain  at  each 
of  the  other  points, — those  at  Bridgewater  being 
mostly  infant  children  of  women  convicts  confined 
there,  and  those  at  Monson  being  retained  to  assist 
in  the  work  of  the  Primary  School  establishment. 
The  number  of  paupers  at  Tewksbury  is  about  800, 
of  whom  nearly  two-fifths  are  insane  or  imbecile 
persons. 

Coupled  with  my  recommendation  to  the  Gen- 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  27 

eral  Coui-t  of  1872,  that  the  IS'autical  School  be 
abolished,  was  a  suggestion  that  provision  be  made 
at  Bridgewater  for  the  boys  in  that  school,  and 
other  boys  of  corresponding  age  who  might  be 
found  guilty  of  offences  punishable  by  confine- 
ment. This  suggestion  was  not  carried  into  effect 
by  your  predecessors.  In  making  it  I  had  no  de- 
cided preference  for  the  point  named  over  others 
that  might  have  been  selected,  but  was  actuated 
by  a  desire  to  get  these  lads  into  a  secure  place, 
where  they  would  be  subjected  to  proper  discipline 
and  might  receive  proper  instruction,  and  espe- 
cially where  they  could  be  kept  employed  in  pur- 
suits adapted  to  their  years  and  circumstances. 

I  have  serious  doubts  whether  the  objections  to 
the  proposition  thus  submitted  were  of  such  gi-avity 
as  to  warrant  the  removal  of  the  school-ship  boys 
to  "Westborough.  The  institution  there  was  not  in 
a  condition  to  furnish  for  them  either  adequate  se- 
curity or  proper  employment;  and  the  effect  of 
bringing  them  into  immediate  contact  with  the 
younger  boys  has  been  very  prejudicial  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  latter.  From  what  has  already  been 
said,  it  will  readily  be  inferred  that  I  deem  it  im- 
peratively necessary  to  the  well-bemg  of  these 
younger  boys,  who  for  the  most  part  are  ignorant 


28  GOVERNOR'S.  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

of  criminal  habits,  that  they  should  be  kept  free 
from  the  contaminating  influence  of  the  older  ones, 
the  majority  of  whom  have  made  a  definite  ad- 
vance m  paths  of  vice.  Moreover,  while  our  first 
aim  with  respect  to  those  of  from  fifteen  to 
eighteen  years  of  age,  should,  be  to  develop  and 
strengthen  their  mental  and  moral  capabilities, 
their  physical  powers  cannot  be  either  safely  or 
prudently  neglected.  They  should  have  no  idle 
hours  on  their  hands.  A  fair  proportion  of  the  day 
having  been  given  to  study  and  recreation,  the  re- 
mainder should  be  assiduously  devoted  to  labor, — 
not  chiefly  for  its  profit,  but  because  wisely-con- 
ducted labor  is  in  itself  the  best  of  reformatory 
agencies.  They  should  be  instructed  in  trades,  so 
that  when  they  are  released  from  confinement  an 
honest  living  will  be  easy  of  attainment.  The 
Westborough  institution  has  not  the  requisites 
necessary  to  successful  dealing  with  these  boys, 
nor  can  they  be  furnished  there  except  at  what  I 
regard  as  an  impolitic  expenditure  of  money. 

I  have  given  this  and  connected  questions  a 
large  degree  of  attention  during  the  last  six  or 
eight  months,  and  now  beg  to  recommend  to  your 
honorable  bodies  the  discontinuance  of  the  estab- 
lishment at  Bridgewater,  and  the   creation   of  a 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  29 

State  Workhouse  at  some  other  point,  in  which 
shall  be  confined  criminal  boys  above  the  age  of 
fifteen  or  sixteen  years,  and  the  class  of  male  con- 
victs sent  under  existmg  laws  to  Bridgewater.  Ko 
new  building  will  be  required  for  this  purpose.  We 
have  jails  and  workhouses  enough  in  the  Common- 
wealth for  the  accommodation  and  proper  clas- 
sification of  our  entire  body  of  minor  ofienders. 
We  simply  need  to  utilize  them  to  the  best  advan- 
tage for  the  general  welfare.  Make  provision  so 
that  the  State  can  take  one  of  our  county  houses 
of  correction,  transfer  to  it  the  hundred  men  now 
at  Bridgewater  and  about  the  same  number  of  the 
older  and  most  vicious  boys  at  Westborough,  and 
there  are  responsible  busmess  firms  standing  ready 
to  contract  for  the  services  of  all  these  persons  for 
a  term  of  years  on  satisfactory  conditions.  It 
would  be  a  benefit  to  the  boys  to  associate  them  in 
labor  with  those  older  than  themselves,  and,  thus 
employed  for  a  portion  of  their  time,  they  would 
become  familiar  with  occupations  from  which  to 
make  a  respectable  and  comfortable  livelihood 
when  restored  to  freedom.  I  ask  your  serious  and 
considerate  investigation  of  this  subject,  in  the 
hope  that  your  inquiries  will  lead  you  to  conclu- 
sions similar  to  those  I  have  reached. 


30  GOVERXOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jau. 

Throughout  the  State  are  various  private  institu- 
tions for  the  care  of  one  or  another  class  of  the 
friendless  or  unfortunate.  Of  late  years  there  has 
grown  up  a  custom  of  granting  aid  to  some  of 
them  from  the  public  treasury.  In  my  judgment 
this  is  an  unwise  policy.  So  far  as  I  know,  these 
several  institutions  are  doing  good  work  in  their 
respective  fields  of  voluntary  labor.  Certainly  I 
wish  them  abundant  success  in  their  merciful  en- 
deavors. But  if  any  one  of  them  is  aided  in  its 
mission  by  the  State,  the  claim  of  some  other  one 
is  equally  valid  and  pressing,  and  a  continuance  of 
the  policy  will  soon  subject  us  to  an  enormous  ex- 
pense. To  see  the  evil  in  which  it  results  we  have 
but  to  look  to  some  of  our  sister  States.  The  leg- 
islature of  1872  declined  to  grant  any  of  these 
outside  appropriations,  and  I  believe  its  course  in 
this  respect  was  approved  by  the  great  body  of  our 
people. 

PRISON  FOR  "WOMEIQ-. 

The  Commonwealth  has  been  somewhat  agitated 
for  a  year  or  two  on  the  question  of  a  separate  prison 
for  women.  I  am  in  favor  of  such  a  prison.  But 
I  fail  to  see  that  we  ought  to  erect  a  new  building 
for  it.     Having  advised  the  withdrawal  of  the  male 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  31 

con^dcts  from  Bridge  water,  I  recommend  the  con- 
version of  the  state  institution  there  into  a  woman's 
prison,  and  in  this  recommendation  the  Prison  Com- 
mission will  \drtually  concur.  I  grant  that  neither 
for  situation  nor  arrangement  is  the  Bridgewater 
building  exactly  what  we  want.  But  it  is  better 
fitted  for  this  than  any  other  necessary  use,  and  if 
it  is  needful  to  make  some  slight  changes  in  its 
constniction,  even  if  it  should  be  found  advisable 
to  add  a  new  wing,  the  expense  would  be  small  in 
comparison  with  the  cost  of  a  new  institution. 

The  estimated  average  of  women  convicts  for  the 
year  is  about  650,  distributed  as  follows : — at  the 
state  workhouse,  150;  in  houses  of  correction, 
200;  in  the  house  of  industry,  300.  The  aggre- 
gate now  under  sentence  is  somewhat  in  excess 
of  this  average,  but  still  not  beyond  the  capacity 
of  the  Bridgewater  establishment.  With  all  our 
female  convicts  confined  there,  suitable  employment 
could  readily  be  provided,  such  classification  as 
might  be  deemed  best  could  be  made,  and  the  broad- 
est and  most  humanitarian  reformatory  principles 
of  prison  discipline  might  be  fairly  tried.  After 
much  conference  with  those  who  have  the  good  of 
fallen  women  at  heart,  I  am  satisfied  the  Common- 


32  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

wealth  cannot  do  better  than  put  the  present  state 
workhouse  building  to  the  use  I  suggest. 


COUNTY  JAILS. 

The  Prison  Commission  will  bring  to  your  notice 
a  comprehensive  plan  for  the  improvement  and 
classification  of  the  county  jails  and  workhouses, 
with  some  suggestions  as  to  a  change  in  our  laws 
and  customs  respecting  the  treatment  of  vagrants 
and  drunkards.  Our  present  method  of  fine  and 
costs  in  dealing  with  drunkards,  not  only  generally 
fails  of  beneficial  results  to  them,  but  in  the  case 
of  married  men  frequently  subjects  their  unofi'end- 
ing  families  to  privations  of  a  serious  character. 
Should  you  be  able  to  devise  a  scheme  calculated  to 
reform  those  given  to  intemperance,  with  the  mini- 
mum of  hardship  to  their  dependents,  you  may  an- 
ticipate Executive  approval  therefor.  Having  al- 
ready sufficiently  indicated  my  views  in  favor  of 
classification,  I  have  only  to  add  that  while  some 
of  our  jails  are  well  adapted  for  their  purposes, 
others  are  little  less  than  a  disgrace  to  the  Com- 
monwealth. For  the  suggestions  of  the  Commis- 
sion I  bespeak  your  candid  attention. 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  33 


3IILITAEY    MATTERS. 

The  Governor  and  Council  have  not  yet  made 
the  camp-ground  purchase  authorized  by  an  Act  of 
your  predecessors.  Several  sites  have  been  exam- 
ined with  such  care  as  was  necessary,  but  it  is  dif- 
ficult to  find  one  combining  all  the  requisites 
desired.  There  is  a  reasonable  prospect,  however, 
that  success  will  attend  the  effort  to  secure  a  suit- 
able location. 

During  the  year  the  Surgeon- General's  oflGlce 
has,  without  expense  to  the  recipients,  collected 
$71,013  from  the  general  government  on  the  claims 
of  soldiers  and  their  families  for  pensions,  bounty, 
back  pay,  prize  money,  etc.,  which  is  an  excess  of 
$23,411  over  the  aggregate  collected  during  the 
previous  year.  The  total  amount  of  these  claims 
collected  since  the  work  began,  about  six  years  ago, 
is  $734,933.  The  manner  in  which  the  labors  of 
this  office  are  perfoimed,  and  the  style  in  which  its 
recor(^  are  kept,  merit  general  commendation. 

The  work  of  the  Adjutant- General's  office  is  sub- 
stantially up  to  date.  The  management  of  the 
department  is  marked  by  efficiency  and  promptness. 
The' two  thousand  dollars  appropriated  last  spring 
to  pay  the  expense  of  issuing  soldiers'  diplomas 


34  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

has  been  nearly  expended,  and  since  it  was  put  at 
the  command  of  the  Adjutant-General  about  12,000 
of  these  diplomas  have  been  made  and  delivered. 
The  department  will  require  no  unusual  appropria- 
tion this  year,  except  for  a  single  clerk  to  aid  in 
completing  this  work  of  patriotic  appreciation,  and 
I  recommend  that  such  provision  be  made  at  an 
early  day. 

The  condition  of  the  active  militia  is  about  the 
same  as  it  was  last  year.  The  ordinary  military 
expenditure  of  the  year  has  been  $150,085.  This 
is  about  116,000  less  than  that  of  1871.  The  num- 
ber of  men  in  camp  was  5,040,  a  slight  falling  off 
from  last  year.  The  fifty  thousand  dollars  appro- 
priated two  years  ago  for  breech-loading  anns,  has 
been  expended,  on  the  unanimous  recommendation 
of  a  board  of  officers  appointed  by  my  predecessor, 
in  the  purchase  of  2,941  Peabody  Kifles,  nearly 
all  of  which  have  been  transfeiTed  to  the  hands 
of  the  militia.  I  recommend  the  repeal  of  chap- 
ters 187  and  298  of  the  Acts  of  1872.  ^ 

Accompanied  by  members  of  my  staff,  who  by 
reason  of  actual  service  during  the  late  war  were 
specially  qualified  to  aid  me,  I  made  a  careful  in- 
spection of  the  whole  body  of  active  militia  at  the 
annual  encampment.     As  each  regiment  and  bat- 


1873.]  SENATE— Xo.  1.  35 

talion  went  into  camp  by  itself,  an  unusual  sense  of 
responsibility  for  the  character  of  the  encampment 
was  felt.  With  one  exception,  I  heard  nothing  but 
well-deserved  praise  bestowed  upon  the  several 
organizations  for  the  bearing  and  sobriety  of  the 
men.  This  was  owing  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
fact  that  peremptory  orders  were  given  by  the  gen- 
eral officers  against  the  introduction  of  intoxicating 
liquors  upon  the  camp  grounds.  However  they 
may  differ  as  to  the  use  of  this  article  at  other 
times,  they  agree  as  to  the  necessity  for  banishing 
everything  of  the  kind  from  camp,  if  good  conduct 
and  good  discipline  are  expected  of  the  entire 
force. 

The  expense  of  our  militia  is  more  than  double 
that  of  most  States  for  a  like  number  of  men,  and 
serviceable  as  the  force  proved  at  the  time  of  the 
Boston  fire,  and  doubtless  would  prove  on  any  other 
occasion,  its  efficiency  is  not  what  it  should  be. 
We  maintain  altogether  too  many  organizations, 
and  too  few  of  them  are  up  to  the  proper  standard. 
We  annually  expend  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  encampments,  that  the  men  may  be  drilled  and 
taught  the  duties  and  obligations  of  soldiers ',  but  a 
large  proportion  of  those  instructed  this  year  were 
neither  in  camp  last  year  nor  will  be  next  year. 


36  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

The  members  of  the  companies  come  and  go  at 
then*  own  pleasure,  and  many  elect  to  withdraw  be- 
fore they  have  fah'ly  learned  the  soldier's  first  les- 
son, so  that  it  is  scarcely  an  exaggeration  to  say  that 
we  are  continually  at  work  on  beginners.  Half  the 
number  of  our  present  organizations,  filled  to^the 
maximum  with  good  men,  who  could  in  some  way 
be  retained  for  a  moderately-long  specific  period, 
would  give  us  a  militia  twice  as  efficient  as  we  can 
get  under  oui'  present  system.  In  this  judgment 
I  do  not  doubt  you  will  find  large  concurrence 
among  the  best  men  connected  with  the  service. 

I  beg  you  carefully  to  consider  whether  it  would 
not  be  well  to  provide  for  a  three-years  enlistment 
and  mustering  of  the  men  in  the  active  militia. 
With  discrimination  on  the  part  of  mustering  offi- 
cers, and  a  proper  spirit  in  the  line  and  staff",  those 
who  belonged  to  the  service  would  feel  a  genuine 
and  commendable  pride  in  their  respective  organi- 
zations, and  in  a  short  tune  we  should  have  a  body 
of  citizen  soldiery  of  the  very  best  quality.  It  is 
advisable  to  require  the  forwarding  of  the  enlist- 
ment rolls  of  this  force  to  the  Adjutant-General's 
office,  so  that  you  may  have  what  you  now  have  not, 
— a  record  at  headquarters  of  the  men  actually  in 
the  service. 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  37 

Whatever  step  you  take  as  to  the  rank  and  file, 
I  cannot  doubt  the  propriety  of  amending  the  mili- 
tia law  so  as  to  provide  brigade  boards  for  the  ex- 
amination of  all  elective  officers.  These  boards 
might  consist  of  three  officers  each,  appointed  by  the 
respective  brigadier-generals,  and  no  commission 
should  issue  except  on  the  certificate  of  the  proper 
board  that  the  person  therein  named  has  been  ex- 
amined and  found  qualified  for  the  position  to  which 
he  has  been  chosen. 

THE    LIQUOR   LAW. 

I  should  be  gratified,  as  doubtless  most  of  you 
would  be,  to  see  the  day  when  no  further  legisla- 
tion was  required  in  reference  to  the  use  and  sale 
of  intoxicating  liquors, — when  the  laws  on  this 
subject  were  such  as  to  satisfy  the  great  majority 
of  the  good  and  sensible  people  of  the  Common- 
wealth. "While  human  nature  remains  what  it  is, 
we  cannot  reasonably  cherish  the  expectation  of  a 
period  when  there  will  be  no  class  in  the  State  with 
new  theories  and  fresh  discoveries  upon  this  ques- 
tion; but  I  do  hope  for  the  time  when  the  body  ot 
our  citizens  will  feel  that  no  more  thought  and 
labor  need  be  spent  in  perfecting  the  law.  If  you 
can  hasten  this  time  by  the  exercise  of  your  wisdom 


38  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

and  foresight,  you  will  deserve  and  receive  the 
gratitude  of  your  constituents  and  coming  genera- 
tions. 

Unquestionably  there  are  some  who  incline  to  the 
belief  that  a  stringent  license  law,  rigidly  executed, 
—  such  a  law  as  has  recently  been  enacted  in  two 
or  three  States  of  the  Union, — would  correct  the 
evils  we  are  trying  to  extirpate.  But  that  law  has 
not  yet  shown  any  special  efficacy  in  bringing 
about  the  reform  for  which  we  are  striving.  More- 
over, this  Commonwealth  has  so  declared  for  pro- 
hibition, again  and  again,  that  we  are  not  placed  in 
the  least  doubt  as  to  the  will  of  the  people.  For 
my  own  part,  I  do  not  think  any  radical  changes  of 
policy  either  necessary  or  advisable,  and  I  have  but 
two  or  three  modifications  of  the  existing  statute 
to  suggest. 

This  statute  is  founded  on  the  principle  that  dis- 
tilled spirits  may  be  sold  for  medicinal  and  mechan- 
ical purposes  only,  while  the  State,  through  its 
agent,  duly  appointed  and  subject  to  rigid  rules, 
shall  furnish  a  pure  article  at  a  reasonable  price,  to 
those  only  who  have  been  legally  authorized  to 
keep  a  supply  for  the  purposes  specified.  Regula- 
tions as  to  the  price  at  which  liquors  shall  be  fur- 
nished, requiring  all  to  bear  the  stamp  of  the  State 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  39 

Assayer  as  a  proof  that  the  quahty  is  np  to  the 
legal  standard,  constitute  a  guarantee  against  fraud 
and  extortion,  and  a  pledge  that  the  Commonwealth 
is  ready  to  do  what  it  can  to  protect  the  town  and 
city  agents  against  imposition.  I  see  no  other 
practicable  way  in  which  proper  supervision  can  be 
exercised. 

But  to  the  full  success  of  this  supervisory  plan 
it  is  essential  that  every  local  agent  should  pur- 
chase from  the  state  agent  only.  If  three-fourth& 
of  them  are  allowed  to  obtain  their  liquors  where 
they  please,  the  guarantee  as  to  quality  is  wholly 
lost,  while  the  state  agency  cannot  be  sustained 
by  the  purchases  of  the  other  fourth.  I  see  no 
valid  reason  why  apothecaries,  if  appointed  to 
local  agencies,  should  not  be  subjected  to  the 
restrictions  laid  upon  other  citizens  so  appointed; 
and  I  therefore  recommend  a  change  of  the  law  in 
this  regard,  so  that  all  town  and  city  agents  shall 
be  on  an  equal  footing. 

If  under  licenses  to  sell  ale  and  beer,  sales 
could  be  confined  to  those  articles,  though  in  most 
cases  a  thirst  for  stronger  drinks  would  be  created, 
the  evil  resulting  from  such  licenses  would  be 
comparatively  small.  But  the  Chief  Constable  of 
the  Commonwealth  expresses  the  opinion  that  at 


40  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

least  nine-tenths  of  our  beer-shops  use  their 
licenses  as  a  cover  for  the  sale  of  distilled  spirits. 
A  beer-shop,  so  called,  has  come  to  mean  generally 
a  place  where  all  kinds  of  intoxicating  liquors  are 
furnished.  And  if  we  are  to  accept  the  evidence 
of  those  who  have  had  the  most  painful  experience 
of  the  miseries  produced  by  these  places,  they  are 
among  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  social  and 
moral  progress  of  the  community.  The  testimony 
of  criminals  of  every  degree  is,  that  they  were 
drawn  by  frequenting  beer-houses  into  offences 
and  violations  of  law  of  which  they  might  other- 
wise have  remained  innocent.  The  wise  and  pru- 
dent legislator  will  not  cease  his  efforts  for  the 
diminution  of  crime  till  every  measure  has  been 
adopted  which  experience  proves  needful. 

I  am  convinced  that  a  large  majority  of  the  legal 
voters  of  the  Commonwealth  are  opposed  to  the 
open  bar  in  any  form  or  in  any  place;  and  if  it 
were  possible  to  obtain  the  views  of  our  women 
on  this  important  question,  I  doubt  not  that  at 
least  four-fifths  of  them  would  promptly  pronounce 
in  favor  of  the  speedy  closing  up  of  all  these  dens 
of  vice  and  crime.  And  I  commend  the  subject 
to  your  reflection,  confidently  trusting  you  will 
agree  with  me  in  the  conclusion  that  the  time  has 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  41 

come  when  the  legality  of  a  beer  and  ale  shop 
should  no  longer  be  sustained  by  our  statutes. 

If  the  law  in  reference  to  the  liquor  traffic  is  not 
enforced,  the  general  impression  seems  to  prevail 
that  the  fault  must  be  either  in  the  Executive  or 
the  police  officer.  It  is  easy  and  perhaps  natural 
to  lay  sins  of  omission  in  this  regard  at  their  doors. 

But  at  a  recent  term  of  the  court  in  one  of  our 
counties,  through  the  effi)rts  of  an  officer,  a  com- 
mon seller,  one  who  had  been  found  guilty  three 
or  four  times,  was  again  brought  to  trial  and  con- 
viction, and  sentenced  to  a  fine  of  ten  dollars  and 
costs,  which  sum  his  clerk  easily  made  in  profits 
on  sales  during  the  trial.  In  another  county,  a 
party  found  guilty  of  the  same  ofience  was  sen- 
tenced to  a  fine  of  two  hundred  dollars  and  costs, 
and  imprisonment  in  the  house  of  correction  for 
six  months.  This  sentence  made  the  violation 
of  the  law  not  only  unprofitable  but  decidedly 
disagi'eeable. 

In  the  one  case  the  prosecuting  officer  and  the 
court  evidently  do  not  intend  to  accomplish  either 
of  these  results,  and  the  work  of  the  police  officer 
is  so  neutralized  that  though  he  pile  his  complaints 
against  ofienders  mountain  high  he  has  no  reason- 
able prospect  of  suppressing  the  traffic.     In  the 


42  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

other  case  the  officers  of  the  law  are  all  laboring 
for  one  result,  and  there  your  statute  is  a  terror  to 
evil-doers, — the  officials  beheve  in  the  rigid  en- 
forcement of  the  law,  while  juiies  and  people  are 
in  harmony  with  them  and  gladly  second  their 
endeavors.  With  like  action  and  sympathy  in 
every  county,  we  should  have  similar  results,  with 
a  beneficial  effect  upon  all  classes  of  society. 

My  object  in  referring  to  these  facts  is  not  to 
criticise  the  course  of  any  tribunal,  but  rather  to 
unpress  upon  your  minds  that  the  enforcement  of 
the  liquor  law,  like  that  of  every  other  law,  depends 
not  upon  the  action  of  a  particular  officer  alone, 
but  upon  unity  of  action  among  all  officials.  If 
the  prosecuting  officer  is  willing  to  shield  the 
criminal;  if  jurors  or  witnesses  are  lacking  in 
firmness  or  integrity;  if  the  court,  with  its  large 
discretionary  powers,  looks  out  for  the  mildest 
possible  sentence,  we  have  a  condition  of  things 
which  not  only  prevents  a  fair  enforcement  of  the 
law,  but  actually  invites  its  violation,  in  spite  of 
all  effort  that  can  be  made  by  the  police  or  the 
Executive. 

Nor  should  it  be  overlooked  or  forgotten  that 
the  execution  of  this  law  is  almost  wholly  required 
at  the  hands  of  the  state  police.     In  contending 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  43 

with  other  forms  of  vice  and  crime  they  generally 
receive  the  assistance  and  co-operation  of  the  local 
police,  but  when  it  comes  to  the  treatment  of 
offences  arising  under  the  liquor  law,  I  regret  to 
say  that  they  not  only  rarely  receive  assistance 
from  the  local  force,  but  are  too  often  hindered 
and  thAvarted  in  their  own  labors.  I  am  gratified 
to  believe  that  there  is  of  late,  in  some  sections  at 
least,  a  growth  of  higher  public  sentiment  on  this 
matter,  and  I  trust  the  day  is  quite  near  at  hand 
when  aU  officers  will  be  obliged  to  do  their  whole 
duty  with  respect  to  every  statute. 

THE   STATE   POLICE. 

Some  three  months  ago,  Major  Edward  J.  Jones 
tendered  his  resignation  as  Chief  Constable  of  the 
Commonwealth.  His  high  executive  ability,  and 
his  long  experience  in  the  duties  of  the  position, 
made  him  an  officer  whom  it  was  particularly 
desirable  to  retain.  But  his  health  had  become 
impaired  by  the  trials  and  perplexities  of  the 
office,  which  are  sufficient  to  tax  to  the  utmost  the 
mental  and  physical  powers  of  the  strongest  man, 
and  there  seemed  no  alternative  but  to  yield  to  the 
necessities  of  the  case  and  accept  his  resignation. 

After  a  patient  and  careful  investigation,  Cap- 


44  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan. 

tain  George  W.  Boynton,  who  had  been  connected 
with  the  force  for  several  years,  and  had  proved 
himself  a  most  efficient  officer,  was  appointed  to 
the  succession.  We  have  good  reason  to  believe 
that  he  will  discharge  the  duties  of  the  post  with 
fidelity,  resolution  and  active  intelligence. 

The  report  of  the  Police  Commissioners  will 
show  you  that  the  force  has  been  increased  by  an 
addition  of  thirty  men,  in  accordance  with  the 
legislation  of  the  last  General  Court.  These  have 
been  distributed  in  different  sections  of  the  State, 
where  the  commissioners  believed  their  services 
would  be  most  useful. 

The  value  of  the  State  Police,  not  alone  in  the 
enforcement  of  a  particular  law,  but  in  the  pi*es- 
ervation  of  good  order  and  the  suppression  of 
crime  generally,  has  never  been  more  heartily 
appreciated  than  at  the  present  time.  Immediately 
after  the  great  fire  in  this  city,  nearly  the  whole 
force  was  ordered  here  for  duty,  and  the  service  it 
then  rendered  is  beyond  computation  in  figures. 
And  I  may  add  that  in  most  parts  of  the  State, 
whenever  there  is  a  large  gathering  of  the  people, 
enough  members  of  the  constabulary  are  present 
to  insure  quiet  and  an  observance  of  the  laws. 

While  there  may  be  a  few  exceptions,  the  force, 


1873.]  SENATE— No.  1.  45 

as  a  whole,  is  believed  to  be  a  faithful  and  trust- 
worthy body  of  men.  Whenever  e\'idence  is  fur- 
nished that  any  member,  whether  by  reason  of 
character  or  inefficiency,  is  unfit  for  the  position 
he  holds,  a  change  will  at  once  be  made.  The 
principle  governing  in  this  matter  is,  that  the 
minister  of  the  laws  must  neither  violate  them 
himself,  nor  connive  with  those  who  are  violators, 
— that  the  true  test  of  the  worth  of  a  man  in  a 
given  position  is  what  he  accomplishes,  and  that 
in  this  calling  especially  he  must  be  judged  by  his 
works.  If  he  cannot  stand  by  this  judgment,  then 
he  must  give  place  to  one  who  can. 

Senators  and  Representatives : 

By  faithful  devotion  to  business  and  reasonable 
care  of  legislation,  your  immediate  predecessors 
acquitted  themselves,  at  their  regular  session,  in  a 
manner  that  met  the  general  approval  of  the  pub- 
lic. But  no  other  act  of  theirs  gained  for  them 
such  universal  commendation  as  the  termination  of 
their  labors  at  a  date  four  or  five  weeks  earlier 
than  the  average  of  several  previous  years.  If 
your  efforts  in  the  official  duties  upon  which  you 
are  about  to  enter,  are  characterized  by  the  energy 
and   diligence  ordinarily  displayed  in  private  af- 


46  GOVERNOR'S  ADDRESS.  [Jan.'73. 

fairs,  so  that  the  responsible  trusts  committed  to 
your  hands  are  properly  discharged,  and  the  ses- 
sion brought  to  a  close  a  month  sooner  than  that 
of  1872,  I  am  confident  you  will  receive  the 
hearty  and  unanimous  praise  of  your  constituents. 


UCSB  LIBRARY 


